BusinessSolve

After the Academy assessed the scheduling solutions available, staff and student representatives concluded that Hotdesk Manager best suited its requirements and the Academy’s strategy for deploying more Microsoft Windows-based and web-based teaching tools. With its flexible rules engine, easy integration and easy-to-tailor interface, Hotdesk Manager enabled the Royal Academy of Music to easily re-brand the solution as ‘Practice Room Manager’.

Using Practice Room Manager, students now pre-book practice rooms either from offsite PCs, or from any of the Academy’s onsite computers. When a practice room has been booked, students receive a room booking confirmation either via email or SMS. On arrival at the Academy, students use one of four touch screen panels to confirm their arrival and authorised use of the practice room. If they do not confirm their arrival ten minutes after the time slot the room was booked for, the system will automatically release the room, making it available for others students to use.

To the students, the benefits are immediate; with their room booking confirmed, there is no longer any confusion over who has access to a practice room at a given time or date. Excess time and expenses are reduced as travelling all the way to the Academy to find that the room booking has altered or lost and that they cannot access a preferred room, is a thing of the past. An additional benefit could positively impact their practice sessions and musical ability; when pre-booking a practice room, students can see which rooms other students have booked. Therefore, a violin player, for instance, can avoid booking a room next to a known drum player. So far, 17 practice rooms are live on the system, with more practice rooms to be added in due course. In trials and training days at the Academy, Practice Room Manager has been well received by the students.

Chris Meaney, the Academy’s Head of Technology, commented: “The Royal Academy of Music attracts some of the world’s most promising musical talents. It is right that the Academy should provide them with the tools and resources they need to help them optimise their essential practice sessions.”

He added: “Both in principle and in practice, Hotdesk Manager - re-branded as Practise Room Manager - is the ideal scheduling solution to introduce to the Academy. We are confident that it will vastly increase the efficiency of the room booking process, and help our students to maximise the effectiveness of their time at the Academy.”

Introduced in June this year, BusinessSolve’s Hotdesk Manager – which is currently available on a no-obligation-to-buy free trial - has been successfully trialled in the UK and across Europe, where the user community has stated that the cost savings in terms of real estate, energy and support services are considerable.

The ability to pre-book a designated hot desk, or associated resource, addresses the uncertainty of knowing what work or education-related resources will be available upon arrival.

Hotdesk Manager links effortlessly with existing scheduling software, is platform independent, and its interface can be customised to adhere to an organisation's branding guidelines. BusinessSolve’s scheduling solutions have already been successfully deployed at the Welsh Assembly and the Home Office, as well as in a broad range of private sector sites.

Nigel Reading, BusinessSolve’s Business Development Director, said: “The application at the Royal Academy of Music is an excellent proof point of Hotdesk Manager’s flexibility and functionality. In time, we are confident that it will prove to be an invaluable asset that will help the Academy’s students to maximise their practice sessions.”